The 32GB Oculus GO RV Oculus Goggles are now available for about $149 and Facebook has announced a definitive price reduction. The move will make virtual reality more accessible to those who want to try out entry-level VR games and video playback and who are looking for something more robust and better supported than Google’s cardboard glasses.
Oculus Go – Standalone VR glasses come at a lower price
The 32 GB Oculus Go costs 149 dollars from today, while the 64 GB version costs 199 dollars. Prices have also been reduced “comparably” in other countries where VR glasses are available, according to the company.
The Oculus Go is a stand-alone virtual reality glasses and the simplest glasses currently available via Facebook. The device has a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 2560×1440 (538 ppi) and a refresh rate of 60 – 72 Hz (depending on the application). The HMD is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 SoC (four 2.15 – 2.3 GHz cryogenic cores, Adreno 530 GPU with ~500 GFLOPS performance, 64-bit LPDDR4 memory, 14LPP), combined with 3 GB RAM, Wi-Fi 802.11ac and 32 or 64 GB NAND flash memory that cannot be expanded with an SD card.
In terms of battery life, the Oculus Go is equipped with a 2600 mAh rechargeable battery that provides up to two hours of playtime or 2.5 hours of video playback.
Because the Oculus Go is a stand-alone virtual reality device, it has built-in speakers and a 3-degree of freedom (3DoF) tracking system for the glasses and controller, while not supporting position tracking. Oculus Go, therefore, cannot provide the same degree of immersion as Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest or even Vive Focus, which have position tracking.
It is clear that Oculus Go was designed to be as cost-effective as possible and all its advantages and disadvantages are a consequence of this design approach. However, it is an economical option for those who want to experience virtual reality for the first time.